The present invention relates to a control method or unit for amenity products, which pertain predominantly to human beings, and living things, via media such as fluid, and an amount of stimulation, on the basis of recognition of the following:
(1) Human beings and living things feel comfortable in a more natural environment and state.
(2) Natural things are useful.
(3) Products using nature in forming such as art objects, living tools, and cooking and handmade things are highly evaluated or highly efficient.
More specifically, the invention relates to a control method or unit for rotating machines, particularly to a control unit for agitating fluid or fine particles. Actual examples of machines are a washing machine, clothes drier, electric fan, air conditioning machines such as an air conditioner, ventilating fan, air cleaner, smell generator, fan heater, bubble massage bath, massager, refrigerator, rotating machine for a thawing box, massager as a vibrating apparatus, audio systems, foot warmer with a quilt over it and electronic carpet using a heat source as stationary machines, ultraviolet health device using a light source, and hothouse gardening equipment,
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a control method or unit for rotating machines which are applied to or mounted in a jet-type, whirlpool-type, agitated-type, or drum-type electric washing machine and in a tumbler type electric clothes dryer, particularly, to a control method or unit for rotating machines for a washing machine and drier which are suited towards improvement of the washing and drying performance.
An example of a conventional control unit that an irregular data system is provided for operating an amount of physical stimulation and a comfortable feeling is obtained by irregularly changing the stimulation according to it is indicated in Japanese Patent Publication 61-56805.
Furthermore, fluctuation of an irregular signal is reported in, for example, Saji, "Comfortable Space Physics", Applied Physics, Vol. 60, No. 3, 1991. Particularly, it is described in the report that the 1/f fluctuation wherein the power spectrum is proportional to the reciprocal of the frequency is often observed in natural phenomena and is a comfortable stimulation pattern. (1/f noise is described in the paper of J. B. Jonson in 1925.)
An example of an electric fan for producing a current of comfortable air is indicated in the above report. The following method is used.
(1) A signal source for 1/f fluctuation is prepared.
(2) Time series data is sampled from the signal source, converted to control data, and stored in the memory.
(3) The number of revolutions and hold time therefor are controlled on the basis of the stored data.
An example of an electric fan in which the fan motor is continuously operated by changing the rotation speed via a plurality of steps and an operation pattern having a combination of operation and stop is iterated in a predetermined cycle by an intermittent operation means so as to change the power of a current of air obtained is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-5599.
Furthermore, the operation control method for a conventional washing machine is described in, for example, Yoshida and other four persons, "Clothes Washing and Drying Art and Application", Mitsubishi Denki Engineering Report, Vol. 62, No. 4, p. 8, 1988.
It is described in the report that as a method for increasing the washing capacity independently of twisting and tangling of clothes and the load amount, an operation control method for detecting the rotation status of the agitator by a pilot generator mounted to the motor, controlling the forward or reverse rotation of the motor, rotating the agitator back and forth, stopping current supply to the motor when the agitator rotates at a predetermined angle (forced rotation angle), and rotating the agitator reversely when it almost stops is effective. Furthermore, it is described in the report that it is also necessary for washing to minimize damaging of clothes and uneven washing, free of twisting and tangling of clothes.
Furthermore, a method in which the rotation angle of the agitator is made unbalanced by providing different current supply times for forward rotation and reverse rotation of the motor in the early stage of washing so as to allow water to penetrate fully into washing during the period of time is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-286194.
The aforementioned prior art has a concept that a natural phenomenon is based on an irregular signal or noise. Therefore, to realize a natural phenomenon or comfortable stimulation pattern, at least the time series data sampled from the signal source of irregular signals and a special memory for storing this data are required. Therefore, to obtain continuous changes like a natural phenomenon, the system scale increases and the cost goes up.
Furthermore, in the aforementioned scheme, the operation associated with the electric fan is described as being iterated in a predetermined cycle and a periodic operation at a low frequency is just changed to strong or weak. FIGS. 21(a) and 21(b) show measured results of power fluctuation of a whizzing sound of the electric fan described in the aforementioned literature (Saji, "Comfortable Space Physics"). FIG. 21(a) shows measured data for a current of random air. In FIG. 21(b) wherein a method using a signal source for 1/f fluctuation is used, remarkable 1/f fluctuation is shown in the low frequency area of 0.1 Hz max. In the higher-frequency area, a linear spectrum is observed and no tendency depending on the frequency is shown. FIG. 22 shown in the above literature shows a measured result of power fluctuation of a brooklet sound which is a natural phenomenon. The tendency of 1/f continues at frequencies higher than 1 Hz, and frequency components increase extremely, and the spectrum is continuous.
The aforementioned prior art on a washing machine minimizes twisting and tangling of clothes and damaging of clothes in addition to the washing object of only removing stains and can process widely large things such as curtains and blankets and lingerie and wool products consisting of fine fibers. However, the washing effect is contrary to the above twisting and tangling of clothes and damaging of clothes, so that further improvement of the performance is required.
An object of the present invention is to bring the operation of amenity products closer to a natural phenomenon by a more practical and simple means by introducing a concept which is indicated by words of Fractal and Chaos, that is, that in a word, regularity is latent in a phenomenon which is seen as irregular at a glance.
However, a word of Fractal was created first by B. Manderubrot, 1924 to -) between 1975 and 1982. The origin of the word is Fractus which is a Latin adjective and Fractional and Fracture are derived from it. In other words, Fractal is almost similar to a concept that many large and small fragments are collected and used almost in the same way as "Recursive" for physical properties of a Figure. The theory is used as a technique for creating various natural scenes and shapes such as mountains, rivers, and clouds, and as a model for creating objects and substances such as trees and crystals, and as a simulation of various phenomena in the natural world.
Although Fractal is not strictly defined, it suggests that irregularity and unforecastability are not considered just as noise but to have an intrinsic law. Furthermore, it is becoming clear recently that an intrinsic law is hidden in complication of a natural phenomenon.
Fractal is characterized by a word of self-similarity or recursiveness. It has been considered that a complicated shape or phenomenon is created only by a complicated operation. However, even a very complicated structure can be created only by a comparatively simple operation and such a structure is called a fractal structure.
Although some structures and phenomena in the natural world are very regular like fern leaves and show the fractal structure, they cannot be made to correspond to the fractal structure. However, when a parameter is provided with a random amount which varies within a certain range, the structure of the natural world can be imitated very well. The above is described in the following references in detail.
1) Angoin, Nakalima, Nagae, "Simple Fractal", Kogakusha, Ltd.
2) Takayasu, What is "Fractal?", Diamond. Ltd.
3) Takayasu, "Fractal", Asakura Shoten
4) Takayasu, "Fractal Science", Asakura Shoten
5) Yamaguchi, "Chaos and Fractal", Kodansha, Ltd.
6) J. Gleick and others, translated by Takayasu and others, "Turbulent of Mirror", Diamond, Ltd.
7) J Gleick, "Chaos--Making a New Science", Pengin Books, N.Y., 1987.
The concept of Chaos suggests that the deterministic nonlinear system output can indicate behavior which is very complicated and unforecastable. This means that there are possibilities that clear deterministic dynamics exist in various irregular signals which are conventionally expressed in words of "noise" and "fluctuation". Chaos has characteristic characters such as instability of path, unforecastability of future status, and fractalness of solution to geometrical structure. It is reported that it exists actually in many fields such as fluidic systems, chemical reaction systems, cranial nerves, lasers, beat of heart, biosystem, infectious diseases, and electronic circuits.
It is proposed recently that the learning basis for aiming at engineering application of Chaos and Fractal is called "chaotic engineering". (Mathematics and Science, No. 348, p. 5, June, 1992).
Furthermore, B. B. Mandelbrot and J. W. V. Ness define the fractional brownian motion (fBm) as extension of the brownian motion. (B. B. Mandelbrot & J. W. V. Ness, "Fractional Brownian Motions, fractional noises and applications", SIAM Review 10, 4 (1968), 422-437). In other words, V(t) which is fBm is a function of one variable and is defined to prescribe the following scaling rule. EQU .DELTA.V=V(t.sub.2)-V(t.sub.1).varies..DELTA.t.sup.H ( 1)
where EQU .DELTA.t=t.sub.2 -t.sub.1
H: Scaling factor
H can be obtained as an inclination of a graph of log .DELTA.t vs log .DELTA.V or from a spectral index .beta. which means a gradient when the spectral density (power spectrum) S(f) is in inverse proportion to the frequency.
Assuming that V(t) is statistically a function of self-affine fractional Brownian motion, the following relationship is held between H, fractal dimension D, and spectral index .beta.. EQU D=2-H,
or EQU D=1+(3-.beta.)/2 (2)
where .beta.=spectral index.
The spectral density S(f) is expressed as follows: EQU S(f).varies.1/f.sup..beta. ( 2a)
As algorithms for creating such Fractal, the independent random cuts method, spectral synthesis method, midpoint displacement method, successive random addition method, and Weirstrass-Mandelbrot fractional function method are well known.
Furthermore, the following list has some similarity to the aforementioned Fractal according to the ideas thereof.
(1) Music or, particularly, technique a musical Figure
(2) Horoscopy
(3) Samasara (metempsychosis) of Buddhism
(4) Mandala of Buddhism